The subject matter herein relates generally to plug connectors that have contact pads on a circuit board.
Some electrical connectors include a circuit board that has multiple contact pads that are configured to electrically engage mating contacts of a mating connector. Modern circuit board manufacturing processes are able to produce groups of contact pads separated by a fine pitch in order to increase the density of electrical connections per area of the circuit board. The contact pads may be accurately positioned pad-to-pad, such that the dimensions of the contact pads and the pitch between adjacent contact pads are kept constant and precise. However, often the groups of contact pads are not accurately positioned across a width of the circuit board and/or relative to edges of the circuit board. This shortcoming may cause the contact pads to misalign with the mating contacts of the mating connector because in many connector systems the side edges of the circuit board are used to guide and locate the mating interface of the electrical connector relative to the mating interface of the mating connector. For example, as the circuit board is inserted into a slot of the mating connector, the side edges of the circuit board (or components on the side edges) may engage inner walls of the mating connector that define the slot in order to guide the circuit board into the slot. If the contact pads on the circuit board are not aligned accurately relative to the side edges of the board, the contact pads may not align correctly with the corresponding mating contacts, which is detrimental to the electrical performance of the connector system. Considering that some contact pads are only 0.4 millimeters (mm) wide and are separated by a 0.5 mm pitch, if the side edges are incorrectly positioned relative to the contact pads by a fraction of a millimeter, the contact pads may entirely miss the appropriate corresponding mating contacts of the mating connector. In addition, some circuit boards include groups of contact pads on opposing sides of the circuit board. If a first group of contact pads on a first side of the circuit board is slightly misaligned relative to the side edges of the circuit board, flipping the circuit board over to etch or otherwise produce a second group of contact pads may exacerbate the error.
Known techniques used to tightly and accurately control the locations of the contact pads relative to the side edges of the circuit board include using secondary machinery to shape the edges of the circuit board and also encasing the circuit board in a separate molded enclosure. But, both techniques are expensive and may be complicated. A need remains for a connector that includes a circuit board with contact pads that align accurately with mating contacts upon being received in a mating connector.